The 16th-century
conquest of Iraq and the regime imposed by Süleyman I

The 16th-century conquest of Iraq, Syria,
Egypt, and the Hejaz brought
the holiest cities of Islam, the most important
of the pilgrimage routes, and all the former seats of the
caliphate under Ottoman rule, thus reinforcing
the dynasty's claim to supreme leadership within the Sunnite
Muslim world.

In Iraq, Ottoman rule
represented the victory of Sunnism. Although the Shi'ite notables
of southern Iraq continued to enjoy considerable local influence
and prestige, they were inclined to identify with Shi'ite Iran
and to resent the Sunnite-dominated Ottoman
administration. Control of the trade routes passing through the Red
Sea and up the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers and from Iran to Anatolia,
Syria, and the Mediterranean
was an important element in the sultan's efforts to ensure that
east-west trade would continue to flow through his territories
despite the newly opened sea routes around Africa.

But, perhaps most importantly, Iraq served as
a buffer zone, a shield protecting Ottoman Anatolia
and Syria against encroachments from Iran
or by the intractable Arab and Kurdish
tribes. Süleyman's imposition of direct rule
over Iraq involved such traditional Ottoman
administrative devices as the appointment of governors and
judges, the stationing of Janissaries in the
provincial capitals, and the ordering of cadastral surveys. Timars
(military fiefs), however, were few except in some areas in the
north. Although the pasha of Baghdad was
accorded a certain preeminence as governor of the most important
city in Ottoman Iraq (as was the governor of Damascus
in Syria), this in no way implied the unity of the five eyalets.